Day 7: Natural Pet Odor RemoversThe 30-Day Green Cat Challenge

There may come a time in your pet’s life when you might need a natural pet stain and odor remover product. Of course, it’s hard to broach this subject with friends, “Hey, has your cat ever peed in your house? I thought I smelled something funny in the basement.” And if you do bring up the topic, what are you really going to say? “Well, uh, my cat peed on the carpet that your baby crawls on. Is there any natural pet cleaner you recommend that works really well? Like, good enough that you’ll let your kid crawl on my floor again?” That’s why there’s this post in the 30-Day Green Cat Challenge.

And, everyone knows you can’t ever get rid of the smell of cat urine. Or, can you?

Of course, MY cat has never needed a natural pet odor remover and I’m sure yours won’t either, but if you have a “friend” who has a problem, read on. Your “friend” might be interested in learning that there are alternatives to chemical cleaners for getting rid of the smell of cat urine. In fact, you can tell your “friend” that some natural pet odor remover products work really well, not that we would know from experience.

Most pet stain and odor removers work in one of three ways:

Chemicals are used to break down the odor-causing molecules.

Enzymes are used to “digest” the odor-causing proteins

Fragrances, natural and/or chemical, are used to cover up the smell.

Since we all know that you can’t ever cover up the smell of cat urine and that we’d prefer to avoid chemicals, let’s take a look at products containing enzymes and other natural pet odor removers.

1) Simple Solution Natural Pet Stain and Odor Remover

Simple Solution has a pretty extensive line of traditional pet stain and odor removers, but they recently introduced a natural pet odor remover. They describe it as an “eco-sensitive stain and odor remover that combines renewable corn-based ethanol, plant-based cleansers and natural bio-cultures to remove tough stains and odors.” The line about renewable corn-based ethanol is stretching the natural claim slightly and is also somewhat insulting to your intelligence, but people rave about this product. Simple Solution Natural Pet Stain and Odor Remover is reported to work when all other natural pet cleansers failed. The after-smell is also supposed to be fairly pleasant.

Nature’s Miracle is an enzyme based solution that works by “digesting” the protein found in cat urine. It’s one of the top-selling brands of stain and odor remover and gets heaps of accolades from cat owners. It works well, but usually requires more than one application to get rid of funky smells. However, a friend reported that the after-smell was itself a bit funky. They couldn’t tell if they were smelling cat urine or the cleaning product. The cat didn’t resoil the area, so it must have been the cleaning product. After several weeks, the smell from the odor remover finally dissipated.

3) wowgreen Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner

Full Disclosure: I’m an independent distributor for Wowgreen

wowgreen Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner uses enzymes to break down cat pee. It’s non-toxic, all natural and comes in a reusable container. What makes wowgreen unique is that they’ve figured out how to combine different enzymes together in one formula, whereas most enzyme cleaners only feature one enzyme. A friend used the product on cat urine and said the smell was gone in about 15 minutes. I’ve found it’s also very effective at removing stains (of course, my cat doesn’t leave poop marks on the carpet, that’s someone else’s cat). The product worked so well that I joined the company ;). It also doesn’t have the funky cleaner smell that Nature’s Miracle has.

This is a non-enzyme based product that claims to be the only product that removes not just pet stains and odor, but also the pheromones that attract your pet back to the same spot. It’s biodegradable and its primary action is to “lift” the odor-causing materials out of your carpet. Reportedly, it leaves no detectable residue, even under a blacklight.

This product neutralizes urine, but contains no enzymes. It’s non-toxic, fragrance-free, dye-free, phosphate-free, and also biodegradable. What is unique about this product is that it claims to work even after you have tried other products such as enzymes or chemicals. Many of the enzyme-based products are reported to be less effective if you’ve already used a chemical cleaner, which “sets” the stain/odor. Wee Cleaner also leaves no fragrance. The main drawback is that it is for odor removal only, and you’ll need something else to remove the stain.